Chapter 52 - A New Role

[Arthur Leywin POV]

As I walked towards where my next class would be, I couldn't stop thinking about what happened. It was the first official day of classes at Xyrus Academy, and I had already defeated a teacher who wanted to humiliate others in fights, as well as having unlocked a new deviant form in the process. I also couldn't stop thinking about my powerlevel, even though I wasn't one of the most powerful mages on the continent, I was here, being a freshman in this great academic space for mages, my goal here was to try to gain more knowledge, along with having the protection for my family, which I got as an extra for being studying here.

Even so, everyone around me, among the other first-years, is so weak that it makes me feel too powerful, I need to stop comparing myself to people my age and think more than that. My only hope now was that the upper-division classes could offer me different points of view, which I could never perceive on my own, related to mana manipulation.

I was very interested in my next class, 'Basics of Artificing'. Artificing was something that didn't exist in my old world. I was sure this might have some comparisons to the kind of technology from my old world, but the premise of manipulating and encoding mana to have designated uses for an object would be something new for me. Even though Luz was doing an amateur study on this topic and runes, he was still writing his research in a language I don't know, so this fueled more my curiosity on the subject.

Upon entering the classroom, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the layout of the room was that of a laboratory. Beakers, containers, different types of ores and various gadgets filled the room, making it all the more authentic.

I was somewhat relieved to see that there was no one I knew in this class, giving me peace of mind. As students started filing in and sitting next to acquaintances and friends, a girl that looked to be about my age walked by and stood next to the stool beside mine.

"I-is this seat taken? If it is, I'll move somewhere else!" I didn't know why she looked panicked but I couldn't help but chuckle at her innocent personality.

"No, the seat isn't taken. You're free to sit there if you wish." I said with a welcoming smile, taking a seat myself.

The girl was ordinary, to say at least. Her thick round glasses magnified her eyes and the freckles underneath them. Her curly light green hair looked like it had a life of its own, as it was forcibly tied into a ponytail down her back.

"Th-Thank you..." she muttered with her head faced down. "...mily."

"Ahn... Sorry, but what?" I leaned in closer to hear her last sentence.

"Emily! My name is Emily Watsken! Please be my friend— I mean, nice to meet you!" Her eyes widened, stunned at her own words. I shared her expression before I burst out into a laugh.

"Sure. My name is Arthur, Arthur Leywin." I grasped her hand to shake, but I became surprised by how coarse her palm was.

"O-oh! I'm sorry! It probably feels gross, right?" She retracted her callused hand while her face turned a bit red, accentuating the freckles on her cheeks.

"No, it's quite fine. I have calluses too. See?" I held my sword hand out to revel the hardened lumps on my palms.

"Wow... you're right! You must practice a lot! It's no wonder you're in the disciplinary committee. I really admire that! For me, I really love artificing, so I end up fiddling around with a lot of gadgets. Unfortunately, it makes my hands get this rough." She scratched her head, her sentences becoming fsster as she got more comfortable with me.

"Really? I rather admire people like you. I'm jealous that you have such a passion for artificing. The only thing you get better at when fighting is destroying and killing, but the better you get at artificing, the more things you can create." I looked down at my own callused hands.

"Woah... That's deep." I saw Emily readjust her thick glasses while she pondered what I had just said in her head.

"Haha, I ended up saying something unpleasant. I apologize." The class was getting pretty loud as the room filled up with eager students, most of which were here as a scholar mages.

"No no no! It wasn't unpleasant at all! Just, it's not something you hear every day from a twelve-year-old." She desperately shook her hands to gesture that it was okay.

"You say that as if you aren't a twelve-year-old yourself." I snickered as I looked at her.

Slumping in her chair, she lets out a sigh. "True... It's because I'm apparently a genius of some sorts. I don't really get why people say that but people don't really treat me as a child anymore after I created the projection display artifact."

"Wait what? You're the one that invented the display used to show the kings' and queens' announcement?" I stood up from my stool.

"Mhmm, well only a part of it... I tinkered around with some of the things in my parents' lab and I made the basic designs a couple years back." she scratched her curly hair again.

Sinking back into my stool, I let out a deep breath. Holy crap. She built something like that when she wasn't even 10!

"Well, I must say that it is an honor to be in the presence of a genius such as yourself." I give her a smirk, bowing my head in mock fealty.

"Oh please. Don't you start now too! Besides, you're quite famous too, you know!" she gave me a smirk as her glasses reflect the classroom light, making her look like an evil scientist.

"Really? I've tried very hard to lay low. I guess that didn't work." I leaned my head on my hand.

"Pfft. Well, joining the disciplinary committee as a first year sure didn't help."

"There are other first year students in the committee as well." I refuted.

"Yes, but the others are from other races, while the two other first years humans there are the princess.. And other guy that for some reas—" She stopped to talk for some reason and looked wide-eyed at me.

"Uh?" I noticed that she was looking for behind me, so I look at my back to see my brother, who was standing up in there, with a cup of coffee in one of his hands.

"Hello, brother. I can sit here too?" He said, as if nothing strange was happening.

"Ahnm.. Why are you here? And why you have coffee with you?" I asked, very confused.

"For the first question, I'm here because I'm having class here now, Gideon kept giving me hell enough to have me in his class. And for the second question... It's because I needed to recover my energy, so I stopped by quickly in the teachers' room and the teacher from my previous class allowed me to use their coffee maker, since going to the principal's building to get coffee there would take a lot longer." He said, drinking a little from the cup.

"Wait… Gideon?" I asked, but then I did a facepalm, I hadn't noticed that I had signed up for the class where that mad scientist taught.

"Gi-Gideon gave you hell for you?" Emily asked shyly.

"Yes, he saw my homemade amateur research and he was so interested that he wanted me as one of his assistants... Oh and I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself, my name is Luz, Luz Leywin, I see you've already met my brother, Arthur. " He said smiling as he took an empty chair from another table and put it next to ours, so we could be seated together.

"His assistant? I-I'm his assistant too! My name is Emily Watsken." She was still a little shy.

"Oh... Does that mean we work together? That's great to hear. And what were you talking about?" Luz asked curiously.

"Well... We were talking about how she and I are people... Great and famous... I mean, we're the only DC members who are first-years, non-nobles, and humans. While Emily, before her 10 years, made that broadcast artifact that they used in the announcement about the Lances." I updated him on it.

"Woaaaah.. This is incredible! Like.. Really crazy to say at least! It's a hornor to know a person like you... We have a friend that is also in DC, but he is more like the genius one instead of fighter one. I think he would also like to meet you." Luz said taking another sip from his coffee.

"Wait.. Three guys from the disciplinary committee that would like to know more about me? Oh god, this is amazing!" She said, now not more shy.

"Yep, we all three lived together since our friend isn't from Sapin. Arthur is the fighter, He is the genius, and I'm the spellcaster." He said laughing, but I punched him in his stomach, now we two were laughing.

"Oh... I almost forgot, what was I going to say before my brother arrived?" I looked at Emily.

"Nothing.. Just that you and your brother are mysterious humans, while him says that he has some noble elf medal and can be called as an royal elf guard, you has a bond with a white fox-like mana beast with the only background known being that you're the first quadra-element in the written history, also able to overwhelm and completely demolish a professor that is a veteran adventurer at the light yellow stage, using the most weak element at the same time your unlock some deviant magic from this same element." By this time, she was leaning closer and closer to me.

"What? How do you already know about what happened with Professor Geist?!? This literally happened fifteen minutes ago! And how do you know about me being a quadra-elemental?"

"Kyu!" Sylvie echoed in protest at being called fox-like, although that essentially was what she was.

"Don't be surprised! This is a magical school, news and gossips are the things that are spread the most around here. I bet half the class already knows what happened, mainly because some students from the disciplinary committee went there, besides that there was that big sonic boom you provoked." she was smirking at me.

"Oh God... You know, I noticed you're awfully talkative now compared to when you stuttered your greeting when you first came in." I couldn't help but realize the change in her personality, Luz was laughing a lot at this.

"Shut up! I s-suck with strangers, okay? Besides, I don't usually get along with new people this easily. You're... You two are different, though! It was easy to het comfortable with how we are similar" She harrumphed, crossing her arms over her undeveloped chest.

"Similar in what way?" I raise a brow.

She grinned broadly. "We're all freaks!"

"Hm.. Yeah, she is right." Luz said, making me facepalm again. As I was about to respond to their statement, the classroom door swung open and I saw a familiar face.

"Greetings, plebeians! Please feel honored to have me, Professor Gideon, as your teacher for this class!" The crazy scientist skedaddled his way onto the podium while the pair of goggles that were hanging from his neck bounced up and down.

As he gazed through the classroom with a condescending eye, he eventually reached Emily, me and my brother. "AH! Well, if it isn't Arthur and Luz! I had no idea that you two would be in my class!" He clasped his cheeks in an obviously fake way, making me shake my head.

"And my oh my! Getting along with Miss Watsken! I must say this trio would make quite the best team in this entire class! Good good! Let's begin the first day of classes by a little introduction of myself!" He smiled, writing his name in REALLY BIG letters behind him.

The lecture continued with Gideon rambling on about how remarkable he was for the following hour. Most students, myself and brother inclued, were half asleep but Emily's eyes sparkled as she absorbed every bit of information that came out of Gideon's thin lips. I guessed even a genius like her respected Gideon in the field of artificing. Made me almost want to admire him.

"But, now! I wanted to introduce all of you to one GREAT PERSON! That will make my class being MORE FANTASTIC than already is! Wonder Brat! Can you please go here?" Gideon said, making Luz and I raise a brow.

"For what, mad scientist? What do you want now? I just know that I'm here because you were drooling when you saw my research!" He said, waking up everyone as they looked at him, Emily also was wide-eyed, even if he already told her.

"Welp! I thought that would be a good experience for everyone that, at sometimes, you get in my place to teach them about your research about runes! It's fantastic, and as you already know, this year in the academy, we will not have rune classes, due of being a optional class and because no one was hired to this, since no student sign up for it." He was giving a lot of point about how would be great for him to do it.

After some seconds, my brother sigh defeated and wrote in air some runes. Everyone was confused, even Gideon. But after he wrote this, a gray little ball was now in his palm and he lauched it for near Gideon, he clapped his hands and teleported to where the grey ball was, making everyone mouth open.

"Okay... So class... My name is Luz Leywin, I'm a DC officer, a First year, a great cooker... And your 'extra Professor' in this class. Since it's an Artificing class, I will help Gideon with addition to my research about magical and mystical runes. What you all saw me doing, was an rune like spell, that only I can make due to my knowledgement. So... I can start introducing more or.... answering some of your questions about the subject or about me?" He said while using a wind spell to erase Gideon's name in the chalkboard, with the same spell, he was controlling the chalk, that was writting his name in giant letters, the same way Gideon did.

For half hour, I could see EVERYONE in the class was asking non-stopping about how he knew this subject and when he started to do his research. He said that he started this when our father come home with some strange symbols in old equipment he had find in dungeons, he also said that he was 8 y/o at that time.

It wasn't the truth, but the way he talked about it and the fact we had Emily, a great genius, in this lab, made everything believable for the fifth/sixth-years that were in this class.

Meanwhile, Sylvie was curled up on the desk in front of me, using my arm as a pillow, when an olive green owl suddenly flew in from the window, landing on my shoulder.

"Kyuuu!!!!" Sylv jumped up in surprise and growled as the owl just calmly grooms itself.

"Well, it seems like Director Goodsky is beckoning you, brat!" Gideon walked up to me massaging his hunched shoulders.

Emily leaned in, not surprised. "I told you not to underestimate how fast news travelled!"

"You shouldn't keep her waiting. Shoo! Off you go! We still need to listen what your brother has to sa—" Gideon didnt complete his sentence, as the owl went to the top of my brother's head after this.

"It seems that she is also calling you too.. Welp! Go now!" He said as he returned to talk to the class about himself, while me and Luz went out the classroom.

"Okay, we just need to go to the SCDC building." Luz said as he started to walk and I followed him with sylvie in my hair, the same way the owl was is his hair.

"SCDC?" I asked, laughing because reminded me of a heavy metal group's name.

"Yep, because it's the Student Council and Disciplinary Committee building, alongside of being where Cynthia's room is." He said, looking at the owl on top of his head.

"Hm.... A wyvern....?" He said after forming a sound barrier around us.

"Ahn.. Whaaat?!?" I asked, super confused, the owl was with its eyes really open right now.

"Its essence, I noticed. It's a wyvern with the same power as sylvie to metamorphing as other type of mana beast... A great bond for our great director, I'm really surprised." He said as he tried to pat Cynthia's bond while it was on top of his head, it's let him do it, and after that, he was now in his right shoulder, instead of his head

I give a head sigh as I saw the campus, it was fairly empty as most students were either in class, training on their own, or in their dorms. Getting caught up in the beautiful scenery of this campus, I noticed the owl starting to fly again, as it went to the director's office by the window. We went there and got up all the floors, until we was in the last one, where there was only one door to enter.

Opening the door, we headed inside, first Luz and next me, I saw the horned owl, or I could say, the wyvern, perches itself on Luz's shoulder again, making Sylvie hiss and throw paws at it in warning, it looks like Sylv was thinking that it was an enemy.

"I see that Avier has personally with you in the process to getting here. Odd... I have never seen him get so comfortable with a stranger before." Director Goodsky, who was sitting behind her desk, rested her head on her hands as she looked at us but studied Sylvie in particular

"Is there something you needed from us, Director?" I take a seat in front of her desk as Avier, the green bond, left my brother's shoulder and perched on the window ledge behind Cynthia.

"Yes. I called you here regarding the little 'demonstration' in Professor Geist's class. While I called your brother because of a request that Gideon said directly for me." Her expression remained unfazed as she mentioned the trouble I must've caused her.

"Ah... There were a lot of..." Before I could say more, Director Goodsky lifted up her hand to interrupt.

"We've just dismissed Professor Geist from our academy. Princess Kathyln and Claire Bladeheart went here to say me what happened. Of course I had get some people to verify this, since it was the first official time the disciplinary committee made something, but everyone agreed that the professor was a danger to students." She nodded placing a couple of documents in front of me.

God, she is fast... The event just happened less than two hours ago, but she already manages to handle and fire that professor.

As if she knew what I was thinking, she smiled and added. "It helps move things along when you get the final say in all matters regarding this academy. I have to say, though, that I have never seen the princess so worked up as she was when came in with Miss Bladeheart, she had a slightly angry expression on her face, which, by her standards, is quite serious. You must understand how surprised I was. Hoho!" Director Goodsky covered her mouth with a hand as she chuckled softly.

"Oh boy, Kathyln being like this... I'm lucky that she was with Claire, and not me." Luz said, making Cynthia laught a little more.

"Yes... She was the one who most talked as she defended your brother quite fervently, leaving Professor Geist no room to defend himself." She said looking at Luz.

"Okay, again, what is the motive to me being here than, if the problem was already resolved?" Sylvie hopped off my head and chased after Avier, who was grooming itself on the window.

"Arthur! I feel more that you are seeing me as someone that always give the ultimate and superior move." She gave me an offended look.

"Haha! Actually, we do, because we three are awfully similar in that way, Director." I have her a wink, making her smile as well while Luz sigh in defeat as he sit down in middle air using some wind spell.

"Dear me. If that is the case, then I believe I've made the right decision." She responded, while she was showing no reaction about what my brother was doing.

"What do you mean?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh.. So there IS a catch again." My brother raised a brow too.

"Arthur, what do you think about being the professor for your class, Practical Mana Manipulation?" She clasped her hands studying my expression.

"You're not serious..... Right?" My eyes widened at this.

"Oh, I'm quite serious, Arthur." She said, her expression unfaltering.

"Cynthia, sorry, but is that even allowed? He is a student and we not even finished with our first day of school. Can he be a student and a professor at the same time? What about his other classes?" Luz began shooting out arguments at my defense as a protective brother would be, while I looked at Cynthia's eyes, shocked.

"Please... No need to get so worked up. It's quite simple, actually. This is allowed as long as I say it is. Although this specific situacion has never occured, there are cases of highly qualified upperclass students that teach basis courses. As for your other classes, his schedule wouldn't really change. He would just be teaching that one class, for that period. See this as being a temporary one until we hire other." She was talking to Luz, but the last sentence was for me, he nodded as if understanding.

"I dont understand why are you doing this, Director."

"Well, a spot just opened up and you were the one that defeated the previous professor in a serious fight. Doesn't that give you enough qualifications to enter? Besides, I'm really not doing this for some ultimate motive, Arthur, you don't have to be too suspicious. This is up to you. I won't push you into this, but I believe that it would be a good opportunity to build a sort of standing for yourself without having to go around conquering professors. If you wish to futher enjoy teaching after this semester. I can give more excuses to give you more classes to teach! I'm sure there are a very limited number of classes that would be of use to you anyway... Adventurer Note~." She chuckled.

She gave me a sweet old lady smile. "The choice is yours."

"And for me? You just called me here to calm him down or are you going to say what was this Gideon's request?" Luz said confused.

"No... As you maybe saw, Gideon wanted to you to give some classes about Runes inside of his normal artificing classes. So we thought that would be good to you be a professor in this subject, just teaching in the moments Gideon asked you to do so. You would also have a laboratory to do your research... Gideon said to me what you're capable of, in a academic way. But, the same thing I said to Arthur, goes to you as well, you also have the choice to refuse if you want.."

I started pondering what director had said, I just sat there, my eyes blankly staring at something off in the distance and they voices out of reach. Like she'd mentioned, there was no real benefit for her to hire me as a professor, neither for doing the samething to Luz, which is why I found it so suspicious.

Practical Mana Manipulation was a class that didn't have any extra work to grade, which would make it even easier for me to just teach the class. Even if it wasn't easier, it would help build a good position for myself and would be a lot more interesting. Seeing as how I probably couldn't escape attention from the students anyway, I might as well do things a bit differently. After today, there wasnt a point in trying to be completely inconspicuous anymore.

"Arthur...?" I snapped out of my thoughts to see that Director Goodsky was looking at me with a rather worried expression, while I had documents in front of me.

"Ah, yes. Although I'm not sure how competent I'd be in that kind of role, I'd like to try my hand at being a professor." I looked at these documents stating my duties and responsibilities as a teacher.

"I'm sure, you two will do an excellent job here." She smiled, as I looked to my brother, to see that he already was reading his documents.

Now looking back at her, I asked. "Were there any other classes that Professor Geist taught besides mine?"

"Fortunately, no. We hired him this year after he retired from being an adventurer. For this semester, the other professors and I decided to only have him teach one class, as a sort of test run." She shook her head at the pitiful results he'd produced.

"Ooh.. I think I saw only ONE problem here... In the final paragraph." Luz said and I was directly now reading this.

"Oh the one that says you are not allowed to hurt students? This will go just for inside your classrooms. As for outside of class, during your disciplinary committee duties, I'll trust your judgement on that." she said and we nodded as we signed the documents.

"I expect great things from you two, and I'm sure I'm not the only one..." She gave me a gentle pat on the shoulder and gave Luz a handshake before unshering us to go eat lunch.

._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.

[Cynthia Goodsky POV]

"Whew... He really does show a great presence.. Both of them managed to get my heart rate up. Dealing with them is way worse than talking to the royal families. Did you hear anything, Avier? It was really strange how friendly you were acting with Luz, didn't you say before that his aura seemed to devour you even though he didn't notice your existence?" My bond gently landed on the arm I held out, his intelligent eyes pondering what to say.

"Both are impressive opponents in both a physical battle and a psychological battle sense. The black haired boy, Luz Leywin, managed to discover my true nature from the first second he watched me for real."

"What?!? How?!" I said surprised, ending up waving my arm a little, causing my bond to come out of there and land on the back of the chair Arthur was sitting on.

"He mentioned that he could see essences, I don't know what that means, but he said he knew what I was from that, maybe it's some special ability involving seeing the real nature of people... Something very interesting and necessary for someone like him, so he knows very well who to trust." the clear words he spoke didn't seem natural from the movement of his beak.

"So that's why he's so friendly with me? Does he already know my true nature just by looking at me?" I asked, still freaked out by it.

"I don't know how much he can see, but at the very least he can understand the race you really represent. Very likely he saw you as a human, given the inferior and lowest amount of Vritra blood in your body." He spared no effort to say what he thought.

I tried to counter him against it, but I could feel the curse they put on me almost activating. I couldn't mention anything about my true nature, otherwise I was dead. But Avier found out by chance after looking through some of my old journals, right after I met him.

".....But you only have things to say about Luz, not about Arthur?" I tried to talk to him more, heaving a sigh.

"As for Arthur, I found out what race his bond is. Apparently, that white fox is actually a dragon."

"D-dragon?! How is that possible? How do you know?" I bolted up from my seat.

"It is because we are of the same kind. I may be of a lesser species of dragons, but Wyverns are still the dragons' decendents." Avier went back to grooming himself.

"Are you saying that bond of his is more powerful than you?" I couldn't help but be utterly baffled by all of this.

"No, that child has yet to mature. She shouldn't have hatched more than a few of years ago. However, I suspect that when she does develop, my strength will not be even comparable to hers." He stated matter-of-factly.

I couldn't imagine anyone stronger than Avier. The fact that he was my bond was only because he grew a liking to me when I happened by him, deep in the Beast Glades. He usually did his own thing and I didn't dare treat him like a pet, but the fact that Arthur's bond was actually a dragon, with it seemed to subservient to him, while he also had fear of Luz's aura... This all made me wonder what they really are.

After this he was going to fly, but he stopped, with his eyes more wide than normal, looking at me. "Avir....? Some problem?" I asked him, and he just replied by moving his head in the window direction. When I looked at it, I screamed while going far from the window.

"Hmm... Why do you two have fear of me...? Am I not an ally of yours?...."

It was Luz! He was upside down at the other side of the window, as if gravity didn't even exist. He went inside my office by doing some strange spell, making him shapeshift into a smoke and pass the window itself, as if he deactivated that unknowing magic.

He was completely different, with his eyes glowing a very intense yellow and wearing a scarily ripped black outfit, as if he were a warrior who had just come out of intense torture. It just made me have horrible flashbacks. On impulse, I ended up using wind magic to make my staff come towards me, but the mana didn't seem to obey me, because instead, my staff went towards him, with the same catching it in midair.

"I understand how your sense of survival is working at the moment, I won't blame you for doing this... I'm the one to blame for leaving you in this state... I'm sorry for almost giving you a heart attack." He spoke with a different air, before he had a super friendly and gentle mood, now the feeling I had as he spoke was a completely neutral aura, but it was still completely honest.

It was as if he had nothing to hide. As if he was free to say whatever he wanted without being judged... As if... He was playing with me.

"What are you doing here, Luz?" I asked as he handed me the staff.

"I'm not Luz... But I'm the owner of this body...." He said those things, leaving me super confused.

"Oh.. Well, let me introduce myself more properly, as you are considered one of the best mages of your generation..." He bowed, and his next words made me almost cry for help.

"My name is Sirius..... Sirius Vritra... But I'm better known , as 'Agrona's biggest mistake'."